THE CONGRESS: The Hazards of Whizzing

Mostly because of his political talent for getting out in front of other Democrats and Republicans with fast answers to national problems, e.g., a flock of antirecession spending bills, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson has had things pretty much his own way during the 8th Congress, Second Session. Not only has Johnson had most Senate Democrats under his thumb, but Senate Republicans have been notably reluctant to tackle him. Last week, for the first time this year, Lyndon began getting arguments from both sides of the aisle.

It began when he arose on the Senate floor to pat himself on the back. The week just past, said Johnson, referring to his success at ramming pump-priming antirecession bills through the Senate, was "one of the most productive and constructive" of his Senate career. That was too much for Republican Leader William Fife Knowland. "It is only in the dictatorships of the world," rumbled Knowland, "that legislation whizzes through." Even Indiana's ponderous Republican Senator Homer Capehart got in on the act, complaining that Johnson was moving so fast that Republicans did not have a chance to be heard. Said Capehart: "I, for one, am going to fight it from this day on because I am sick and tired of it."

Jangled Nerves. Unfazed, Lyndon Johnson proceeded to order a new spending bill, sponsored by Arkansas' Democratic Senator William Fulbright, railroaded through Fulbright's Banking and Currency Committee for fast floor action. The Fulbright bill would expand the federal Community Facilities Administration, which makes modest loans for smalltown public works such as sewers and water mains. It proposed to 1) swell CFA's loan authorization from $100 million to a gaudy $2 billion; 2) slash interest rates on CFA loans; and 3) make all kinds of community projects eligible, from parks to parking lots.

But, as it happened, the Johnson directive sorely jangled the nerves of Illinois Democrat Paul Douglas and Maine Republican Frederick Payne. Reason: Douglas and Payne have pet bills of their own, both aimed at fattening federal aid to depressed areas, which Banking Chairman Fulbright has kept bottled up for months. Democrat Douglas and Republican Payne got together and vowed to get area assistance unbottled as the price for considering the Fulbright bill. Committee Republicans joined the plot; so did Democrat Joseph Clark, who is keenly interested in getting more federal aid for depressed Pennsylvania towns.